CH 70

A gentle female voice hummed a melancholic tune of homesickness.

Inside the room, a beautiful and pure woman leaned against the window, her lake-green eyes fixed on the receding figure. Gunshots echoed in the distance as the figure moved further away.

The lyrics conveyed a message of departure, urging the child not to yearn or grieve, but to chase after and attain everything they desired.

“Vanessa!”

King Edmund burst into the room with a dark expression, his gaze locked onto the beautiful figure. Upon hearing Vanessa singing lyrics that hinted at leaving, his anger flared up instantly.

“Stop singing these useless lyrics. You can never leave me!”

Queen Vanessa, with a crazed look in her eyes, gazed at the distant figure as if she hadn’t heard King Edmund’s words.

Meanwhile, Prince Kyle was kidnapped by Si Huaixi, and Prince Edward went in pursuit.

When King Edmund learned that someone had intruded into the palace, his first instinct was not to save his own son but to check the surveillance footage of Queen Vanessa. Only after confirming her safety did his sinister and terrifying gaze subside as he hurriedly arrived.

“Vanessa, the palace is no longer safe. It was breached by someone. Come, I’ll take you to a new place!”

King Edmund’s face hardened as he tried to pull Vanessa away, but she brushed him off.

After a long period of madness, Vanessa seemed somewhat clearer when she looked at him. Her gentle yet resolute gaze met him as she spoke, “Edmund, that’s my child.”

King Edmund followed Vanessa’s gaze to the direction she pointed, where the criminal who had taken their second son stood. Though he possessed the same royal characteristic of deep ocean-blue eyes, King Edmund couldn’t bring himself to believe it was his son.

“Don’t think too much. Let’s go somewhere safe,” King Edmund lowered his voice, trying to coax her.

“Where to? Cain’s death is my doing. I showed kindness to Kyle to make amends, but I never expected him to do something so terrible. My child took Kyle away. It’s the Odyssean royal bloodline tearing itself apart. It’s my own fault,” Vanessa’s emerald eyes filled with tears, still as angelic as ever.

King Edmund was deeply enchanted and obsessed by her. He caressed Vanessa’s silky, radiant golden hair, forcefully pulling her into his embrace.

“Vanessa, I know you have moments of clarity. You can blame me for my mistakes, but don’t mention other men’s names. It makes me jealous!” King Edmund gritted his teeth towards the end of his words.

“Can you help him? My child, he’s in pain, desperate, walking on a self-destructive path.” Vanessa’s heart-wrenching, tear-filled gaze pleaded with King Edmund, leaving him almost speechless in refusing her request.

“I will help him, but my child is already dead. His body lies buried in the royal mausoleum,” King Edmund calmly stated, his eyes composed.

“No, his body isn’t there. The tomb holds no trace of that child,” Vanessa’s eyes shimmered with tears.

“I know he’s still alive. I dreamt of him on a desolate planet, from a small child struggling to adulthood… Perhaps it was just a mad dream, but I truly miss him. Until a year ago, his soul departed, and I sensed the death and rebirth of that child, a powerful soul replacing him. I’m grateful for that soul, but I feel guilty for allowing the child to be out there. Now that he has already died once, I want to bring him back.”

King Edmund thought Vanessa had gone mad again, uttering such nonsense.

“That child was born without glands, a disabled person who isn’t fit for this world. Even the doctors said he wouldn’t live long. He suffered multiple episodes of severe shock right after birth, and in the final attempt to save him, they worked on him for half an hour, but he couldn’t be revived. The doctors pronounced him dead, and only then did I have Princess Katie take away the stillborn child… Wait a moment…”

King Edmund suddenly realized something.

After the child’s stillbirth, Princess Katie claimed to have buried him in the royal tomb. At that time, he was so preoccupied with taking care of Vanessa that he didn’t pay much attention to the deceased child. Could it be that the child came back to life?

Vanessa smiled bleakly. “I endured the pain of losing that child until one day I went mad and dug up his grave. When I regained my sanity, I found nothing in the coffin. I began to suspect the child was still alive. And today, when I saw that child, I knew he had come back to life…”

King Edmund furrowed his brow, deep in thought. He didn’t fully believe Vanessa’s words, but for the sake of her peace of mind, he decided to investigate.

Si Huaixi never concealed his face from the beginning. His appearance was captured by numerous cameras in the palace.

As King Edmund watched the footage, he finally understood why Vanessa was convinced that this was his child. Apart from his chilling ocean-blue eyes, which spoke for themselves, Si Huaixi had stunningly handsome features that closely resembled Vanessa.

The difference was that Vanessa’s features were gentle as water, while Si Huaixi’s were more ruggedly handsome.

King Edmund’s heart began to waver. He ordered an investigation into Si Huaixi’s background and unexpectedly discovered that when Si Huaixi arrived on the main planet from the desolate star, he underwent a blood test.

Normally, the tubes containing blood samples would be kept in storage on the main planet for a certain period of time, and they hadn’t been cleared out yet.

King Edmund dispatched someone to retrieve the blood sample tube from Si Huaixi’s medical examination and conducted a genetic match.

The test result… confirmed their father-son relationship.

King Edmund gazed at the genetic analysis report, his eyes filled with unclear and complex emotions.

A video went viral across the internet.

“#Doomsday is coming, has the empire been invaded?! Why am I seeing superhumans?#”

In the video, a tall man with a dark, patterned mask effortlessly pulled the towering imperial battleship down from the sky. Bullets rained upon him, but they seemed as harmless as cotton candy. Occasionally, he would casually catch a bullet or two, toying with them in his slender, ivory hand. When he grew tired of it, he threw them back at the imperial army, with the force of a hand grenade.

Advanced mechs, one after another, encircled this masked man, their pairs of eyes filled with fear and vigilance, tightly fixated on him.

Yet, this mysterious man seemed unaffected. He held the lifeless body of Prince Kyle, not revealing any sign of breath, as the imperial soldiers and mechs followed closely, step by step, as he calmly and methodically walked towards his destination.

Media from all walks of life swarmed in.

Footage captured by drones was transmitted across the star network.

Scenes of ruins unfolded.

The empire’s proudest high-tech weapons, the mechs, proved powerless against the mysterious man with the black mask, turning into piles of scrap metal.

Surrounding structures collapsed from the impact, engulfed in dust. Gunshots reverberated, leaving behind countless spent shell casings along the way.

The silhouette of that mysterious man with the black mask appeared so small yet so enormous, evoking fear in everyone who beheld it.

The sound of a drone flying seemed to catch the man’s attention.

The audience outside the camera lens first tensed up, then relaxed. After all, this was hundreds of meters above the ground. The terrifying man with the black mask wouldn’t be able to reach it, right?

Not long after, the chilling azure gaze hidden behind the pitch-black mask shifted towards the camera, causing a slight tremor in those icy-cold eyes. The oppressive sensation felt like suffocating beneath the icy depths of the sea, making beads of cold sweat form in the palms of those watching the video, while their hearts raced with increased intensity.

In the next moment, the enigmatic masked man raised his hand.

A sharp, piercing sound of breaking through the air rang out.

The unmanned drone, hundreds of meters high, seemed as though it had been struck by an invisible arrow. The glass in front of the camera shattered into a network of fragments, as if everything before their eyes was being destroyed by that mysterious man. Then, the screen turned black, and nothing could be seen anymore.

Many viewers who watched the video found it hard to believe, thinking it was just a promotional clip for some movie.

But they were soon proven wrong by internet users residing in the Imperial Capital.

“It’s true. I live near the scene of the incident in the Imperial Capital, and the Imperial Army suddenly notified the public to evacuate urgently. I also captured footage of that mysterious man,” one person proclaimed.

Numerous netizens provided video testimonials, all from different angles and locations, yet unanimously depicting the Imperial forces surrounding the tall, mysterious man wearing the black mask.

What’s more, the official Imperial news station also reported on this sudden event, unable to conceal it. The entire Imperial population was in shock and uproar, with discussions and debates spreading rapidly online!

Without exception, the focal point of everyone’s attention was the identity of that mysterious man with the black mask.

What was his purpose?

On this day, the hearts of the Imperial citizens trembled with anxiety, ushering in a uniquely extraordinary courtroom trial.

Standing in the midst of the courtroom was the mysterious masked man, holding the Second prince, Kyle, who was left powerless in the face of the entire Empire.

The formidable military strength and dignity of the Empire were trampled underfoot by this inscrutable man. The once esteemed Prince Kyle’s pitiful appearance, struggling for survival in the hands of this man, was exposed before the entire Imperial population.

Everyone wondered what this mysterious masked man intended to do and why he suddenly appeared in the courtroom.

They had expected something extraordinary to happen, only to find that the trial proceeded according to the usual procedures.

Justice Bruce, the presiding judge, sat in the center of the courtroom, gazing at Si Huaixi with a complex and regretful expression. In his heart, he sighed and solemnly declared,

“The court is now in session! The retrial of the K108 spaceship hijacking incident, with new evidence presented, will include the additional trial of a new suspect, Kyle Odysseus!”

This trial progressed unexpectedly smoothly.

No matter how many prominent lawyers wished to defend Prince Kyle, they had to weigh the retaliation of that mysterious man with the black mask.

The evidence was indisputable. The incriminating proof of Prince Kyle’s collusion with the Federation lay before everyone’s eyes.

Justice Bruce’s gaze turned piercing and authoritative as he looked down at Prince Kyle and asked, “Can you admit to conspiring with the Federation?”

Prince Kyle hung his head in despair, unable to resist, and whispered, “I admit it.”

Through the screen, many Imperial citizens throwed abusive words at the prince, who had betrayed his own people. Meanwhile, more and more people began to yearn for, appreciate, and admire the mysterious man with the black mask.

Everyone could see that he had come for the sake of those sacrificed in this man-made accident. To a certain extent, he was a hero, defying the powerful and privileged forces of the Empire, and he would stop at nothing to ensure that the guilty received the punishment they deserved.

The progress of the matter went so smoothly that it deeply furrowed the brows of Judge Bruce. As Si Huaixi had mentioned before, as long as Prince Kyle, who had caused the deaths of numerous innocent imperial soldiers, retained his royal status, he could not be sentenced to death.

If they didn’t impose the death penalty, Judge Bruce truly worried that Si Huaixi, who appeared calm but was gradually heading towards self-destructive madness, would kill that person and decisively cross the point of no return.

A sudden commotion echoed outside the courtroom.

“Your Majesty the King!”

“Your Majesty the King is here!”

“It’s dangerous here. Your Majesty, please try to leave this place.”

The unexpected arrival of King Edmund surprised everyone present, while the hopeless and disheveled Prince Kyle found a glimmer of hope.

Si Huaixi’s eyes remained cold and indifferent, paying no attention to the sudden appearance of King Edmund, but continued to gaze at Judge Bruce, awaiting the verdict.

King Edmund, unwavering, entered the courtroom with a stern expression, his gaze fixed on the young man with the black mask, ignoring the pitiful Prince Kyle beside him. He uttered words that shocked everyone present.

“Child, you are the lost third prince of the Odysseus Royal Family. As the ruler of the empire, your biological father, and your mother, both hope that you will return to the royal family and become one of us.”

King Edmund and the kindly anticipation in his eyes turned towards the indifferent Si Huaixi.

Si Huaixi’s eyes slightly darkened, seemingly skeptical of King Edmund’s words. He never expected to find his original owners’ relatives in such a situation. How ironic…

Despair twisted Prince Kyle’s face with jealousy and resentment. He watched his father ignore his own tragic fate and engage in a warm conversation with the perpetrator who had made him crippled.

Unable to bear it any longer, Prince Kyle shouted in anger, “Father! He’s the one who turned me into this ruthless criminal! How can you let him go like this?”

King Edmund looked at Prince Kyle with disdain and rebuked, “Shut up! He’s your own brother.”

Prince Kyle’s eyes became dull, as if struck by a heavy blow, he murmured, “Father, how could you treat me like this? I don’t have such a cruel brother!”

“What a coincidence, I also don’t want to acknowledge any trash as my relative,” Si Huaixi sneered with cold eyes.

Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters.  (๑>ᴗ